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Cold, wet weather to keep grip on Grand Valley

CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON/The Daily Sentinel—Maria Manrique, a member of the Colorado Christian University women’s golf team, waits to tee off at Tiara Rado Golf Course in the Colorado Mesa University Invitational, which was delayed by rain Monday.

Sorely needed rain returned to the Grand Valley overnight Monday, and the unsettled weather and precipitation trend appears likely to stick around through at least Wednesday.

Regional fruit growers should be aware that weather watchers are predicting temperatures could descend into the teens on both Wednesday and Thursday nights.

“This is kind of a prolonged event, with a few systems in it. It looks like this is the first part of it,” said Dennis Phillips, meteorologist in the Grand Junction office of the National Weather Service. “The second one should take over (today).”

The Weather Service is predicting the next few evenings will be cold — low temperatures tonight in the valley between 25 and 35 degrees, and lows between 15 and 25 degrees for both Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Record lows for Wednesday and Thursday are 23 and 22 degrees, respectively, set back in 1922.

Phillips said the best chance for snow at lower elevations would be tonight and Wednesday morning, but that in the Grand Valley temperatures may not linger below the freezing mark long enough for any real snows to stick.

Snow or rain, it is likely to be wet around the Grand Valley today and Wednesday, the Weather Service said.

On Thursday, Phillips said, “The drier air definitely sweeps in behind this, and the skies should clear.”

The storm system has brought large amounts of late season snows to the mountains. Grand Mesa reported 3 to 6 inches. The Loveland ski area reported 14. Estes Park had more than 10.

Along the Front Range, Berthoud reported 8 inches and Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland each reported 7 inches of snow.

U.S. 40 over Berthoud Pass, U.S. 6 over Loveland Pass and eastbound Interstate 70 between Vail and Vail Pass were closed Monday.